IAN HENDERSON for a penny!

Ian Henderson (born 24 January 1985) plays for National League club Rochdale, as a forward but he has also been used in various midfield roles and has captained his club on numerous occasions. Henderson is Rochdale's all-time leading goalscorer (with, as of 8 May 2025, 160 goals in all competitions, including 140 league goals).

Henderson started his career with Norwich City and made almost 70 first team appearances with them before joining Northampton Town in July 2007 following a six-month loan spell at Rotherham Utd. He remained at Northampton Town for 18 months and then played for Luton Town and in the Turkish football league with Ankaragucu, prior to signing for Colchester Utd in January 2010. Henderson hit 11 goals for Colchester United in the 2010–11 campaign, including home and away winners against Rochdale, and then scored again at Spotland for Colchester in October 2011. He scored 26 times in 130 outings for United, but left the club after manager Joe Dunne oversaw a shake-up of his squad earlier in 2013. Henderson was one of the most consistent performers in Rochdale's promotion campaign, missing only one game through suspension and scoring 11 goals, with several Goal of the Season contenders.

Henderson joined Rochdale on a free transfer in February 2013 after being released by Colchester. His performances led to the offer of a two-year contract, a deal which was extended until 2016.

Henderson has played internationally for England four times at under-18 and once at under-20 level, and is also eligible to represent Scotland.

Norwich City: 

Born in Bury-St-Edmunds , Henderson was a product of the Norwich City youth academy. He made his debut as substitute against Coventry City at Highfield Rd in a 1–1 draw. He scored his first goal for the Canaries in a 4–2 defeat at Wimbledon on 2 November 2002, and was rewarded with a three-year professional contract at the end of January 2003, ending the season with 22 appearances. Following call-ups to both England Under-18s and Scotland U19s. The 2003–04 season saw Henderson win a First Division championship medal as Norwich won promotion to the Premier League. In November, he scored four goals in five games, including two in a 3–1 victory over Millwall at Carrow Rd – and created a number of goals for other players. He signed a new contract in the summer of 2004 but found it difficult to establish himself in the team, making only a handful of appearances in the two subsequent seasons. His Norwich career suffered a further setback as a result of injuries.

Rotherham United (loan): 

On 11 January 2007, after a five-month layoff caused by a knee injury, Henderson was loaned to Rotherham Utd to gain match fitness and experience in a deal at the end of the 2006–07 season. Henderson scored his only goal for Rotherham in their last home game of the season, a 4–2 defeat to Cheltenham Town. He made 18 appearances for the Millers, scoring once. At the end of the season, Henderson was released by the Canaries.

Northampton Town: 

Henderson signed for Northampton Town on 28 June 2007. On 27 December 2008, Northampton terminated Henderson's contract with immediate effect after Henderson did not start a game for the Cobblers during the 2008–09 season and he had failed to score in 33 first-team appearances.

Luton Town: 

Henderson signed for the club on a short-term contract on 2 January 2009, and went on to make 18 league appearances in the 2008–09 season, scoring once against Dagenham and Redbridge. He was not offered a new contract at the end of the season, and was subsequently released from Luton.

Ankaragücü 

Prior to the 2009–10 season, Henderson had a trial with Turkish Super League side Ankaragucu and on 27 July 2009, after a successful trial, signed a two-year contract until summer 2011. He made his debut for the Turkish club in the first league week of the 2009–10 season, coming on as a 59th minute substitute for Abdullah Çetin, in Ankaragücü's away game to Diyarbakirspor on 8 August 2009. After just six months in Turkey, Henderson had his contract with Ankaragucu cancelled.

Colchester United  

On 7 January 2010, Henderson signed for the Football League One side on a 1p transfer!! Henderson was sent off on his debut for Colchester United against his former club Norwich City. Henderson finished the 2010–11 season as top scorer for Colchester with 10 league goals and was the only one of United's players to hit double figures, attracting interest from other clubs with his contract set to expire. However, on 10 June 2011, Henderson signed a new contract with the U's. On 31 January 2013, Henderson had his contract with Colchester cancelled by mutual consent.

Rochdale

Henderson playing for Rochdale

After the cancellation of his contract with Colchester he joined Rochdale on a contract till the end of the season. In May 2013 he agreed a two-year extension at Rochdale. Henderson scored the second goal in the club's shock 2–0 FA Cup victory against Leeds United on 4 January 2014. Henderson finished the 2014–15 season with 22 league goals and second highest total in the league that season.

On 23 October 2015, it was confirmed that Ian Henderson had signed a two-year contract extension at Rochdale and would be finishing his playing career at the club, citing a love for the club itself, the management, fans and his desire to settle down in the area.

Salford City

On 29 July 2020, Henderson signed for Salford City, on a two-year deal. On 12 September, he scored inside two minutes on his début against Exeter City. The following week, he scored a hat trick in a 4–0 away win against Grimsby Town, becoming the first Salford player to score a hat-trick in the Football League. His four goals saw him win the EFL Player of the week award. After six goals and an assist in April 2021, Henderson was again awarded the Player of the Month award, his second of the season. He was released by Salford at the end of the 2021–22 season.

Return to Rochdale: 

Henderson returned to Rochdale ahead of the 2022–23 season on an initial one-year deal. On 8 November 2022 he became Rochdale's all-time leading goalscorer, scoring against Salford City in a 1–0 home win to surpass Reg Jenkins' long standing record of 129 goals!!!

International career: 

Henderson is eligible to play for Scotland through his Scottish father and since he had not played a UEFA recognised competitive match. In May 2003, he was called up to the England U18 squad for a tournament in Lisbon against Portugal, Sweden and Spain Henderson played in all three games and had goals disallowed in the win over Sweden and the draw with Portugal but scored England's first in the 2–0 defeat of Spain that won England the Lisbon Trophy. Following this success, he was called up to the Scottish U19s.

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2007	Norwich City	68	(6)
2007	→ Rotherham United (loan)	18	(1)
2007–2008	Northampton Town	26	(0)
2008–2009	Luton Town	18	(1)
2009–2010	Ankaragücü	3	(0)
2010–2013	Colchester United	118	(24)
2013–2020	Rochdale	297	(112)
2020–2022	Salford City	61	(20)
2022–	Rochdale	147	(33)
International career
2003	England U18	3	(1)
2004–2005	England U20	1	(0)

FIFA PRAISE HIM BUT FOWLER FINED BY UEFA

In 1995 around 500 Merseyside dockers working for the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company refused to "cross the picket line" and were sacked. Many were reinstated afterwards but their contracts were vastly changed, so there was a dispute! Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman were given T-shirts supporting the Dockers and decided to wear them under their Liverpool club shirts during a European Cup Winners Cup tie against Brann.

McManaman advised his team mate NOT to lift his Liverpool shirt if he scored, better to have waited until the end of the game, when a political gesture might be made without controversy.. Some chance!! "I agreed with him 100 per cent" said Fowler "and then went completely mental." Upon scoring his second goal of the evening to seal a 3-0 victory. Fowler pulled up his shirt to reveal a pastiche of Calvin Klein which bore the support "Support the 500 sacked dockers." I pulled down the shirt and ran over to the photographers to have a picture taken!" Staunch work from Comrade Robbie!

Four days later the halo hadn't slipped. During the crucial league match at Highbury, Fowler rushed into the Arsenal penalty area and was upended by David Seaman, or so the referee thought. A penalty wrongly awarded!! Fowler tried to make the official change his mind!.... "it was a bit f***ing dippy, Fowler reminisced, but I have never been a cheat". 

Fowler got up and missed the kick, though Jason McAteer followed in the rebound. "I want to congratulate you for your act of sportsmanship," wrote FIFA president Sepp Blatter on March 26th. A day later, UEFA were in touch as well. "It seemed strange and a little unfair..." began the letter FINING Fowler £900 for his "Dockers protest!!"  Dated1997.

TOP ENGLAND CAPS

On March 26th 2008, a 32-year-old David Beckham won his 100th England cap. An LA Galaxy player at the time, his day, perhaps wasn't as memorable as that enjoyed by 'King Kenny'. The 32 year old lasted 63 minutes of what was a disappointing 1-0 friendly defeat in France before being substituted.  He wore golden boots against France to mark the occasion and before England's next match - at Wembley - he was was presented with a commemorative gold cap by Bobby Charlton.  He was the fifth England centurion at the time after Billy Wright, Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Peter Shilton and went on to increase his cap count to 115.

Here is the list of England men’s record appearances:1 - Peter Shilton –125 apps 2 - Wayne Rooney – 120 apps 3 -David Beckham –115 apps  4 - Steven Gerrard – 114 apps  5 - Harry Kane – 112 apps 6 - Bobby Moore – 108 apps 7 - Ashley Cole – 107 apps 8 = Sir Bobby Charlton – 106 apps 8 = Frank Lampard – 106 caps   AND below 9th - Billy Wright – 105 caps THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN TO A HUNDRED! 

William Ambrose Wright CBE (6 February 1924 – 3 September 1994) was a centre-back (CENTRE HALF IN THOSE DAYS). He spent his entire club career at Wolverhampton Wanderers. The first footballer in the world to earn 100 international caps, Wright also held the record for longest unbroken run in competitive international football, with 70 consecutive appearances, although that was surpassed by Andoni Zubizarreta's 86 consecutive appearances for Spain (1985–94). He also made a total of 105 appearances for England, captaining them a record 90 times, including during their campaigns at the 1950, 1954 and 1958 World Cups.

TULL'S TALE

I have recently been to the Leeds Playhouse to watch a brilliant play, Small Island, centred on the West Indian immigration, around the Second World War, known as the "Windrush" era, telling of the discrimination of West Indians (and others) arriving in Britain. It made me think of Walter Tull, whose story I am sure I have "Blogged" before (around this time in March). Walter and his story deserves another mention and well, here it is. I hope the link works. Walter Tull born 28th April, 1888. Folkestone.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43504448

Walter Tull: The incredible story of a football pioneer and war hero. He was born in 1888 to a Barbadian father, Daniel, and English mother, Alice. He bcame the first professional black outfield player, IN THE WORLD! When his parents had died, Tull was packed off to a Kent Methodist orphanage, in 1897, where he quickly made his name as a footballer. In 1908 he was spotted by the amateur side Clapton FC in London, now known as Leyton Orient and a year later was recruited by Spurs from the First Division (the top one at that time).

After a handful of impressive matches for the club, he was dropped following racist abuse from crowds when playing in a match at Bristol City in 1909. "A section of the spectators made a cowardly attack in a language lower than "Billingsgate" (the historic Fish Market in central London, where there was a lot of "bad laguage" afoot daily!),  reported The Football Star paper. It was reported "Let me tell these Bristol hooligans that Tull is so clean in mind and method, as to be a model for all White men who play football. Two seasons later he moved to Northampton where he played 110 matches for the club under the legendary, Herbert Chapman (reknowned for his success with the Arsenal club). 

Tull's success there brought him a transfer to Rangers, but he never played for the Glasgow giants.

When war broke out in 1914, Tull was one of the first to enlist, joining up with the legendary, 1st Football Battalion and being a bright lad, so earned promotion quickly at a time when a colour bar operated in the higher ranks of the British Army. Tull remained in Italy until 1918, when he was transferred to France to take part in the attempt to break the German lines on the Western Front. 

On 25^th March he was ordered to lead an attack on their position at Favreuil, where we was shot in the head and died instantly.

After surviving six major battles, Tull was shot in no-mans' land near Favreuil in the Pas De Calais, France. His colleagues tried to drag him to safety but he died instantly. Days later, his brother Edward received a letter telling of this fate, as his commanding officer wrote; "The Battalion and Company have lost a faithful officer and personally, I have lost a friend". UNLIKE the Bristol City fans who had once jeered him, Tull's colour made no odds to his fellow soldiers.

Died: 25 March 1918 (age 29 years), Pas-de-Calais, France.

At one stage, Tull was temporary dismissed from service after suffering from “shell shock”, or what is classified as post traumatic disorder. Not being left defeated by the diagnosis, he later returned to the conflict and fought in the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

 

SO NEAR BUT SO FAR!

Sunday, March 23rd 1986!! but... there was a SATISFYING Saturday previously, in the English First Division (the old one-remember?), for Chelsea and Manchester City. Chelsea had won 1-0 at Southampton which helped them in the "Title" Hunt.  Mid-table City were two goals down at Manchester United, but recovered to a 2-2 draw which severely damaged their arch-rivals chances of winning the First Division "title", the first time since 1967. 

Their weekend work was not over however. Less than 24 hours later, BOTH teams would be back at Wembley to contest the first ever, "Full Members' Cup Final". The Full Members' Cup had been set up to fill the void left by the post-Heysel ban on English clubs in Europe. The competition had not been taken too seriously as the scheduling of the Final proved. The Football League’s most embarrassing and ill-conceived competition finished a money spinner at Wembley.

Neither Chelsea nor City had enjoyed a particularly fruitful decade though, as they both had spent time in the "old" Second Division. A day out at the Cup Final was not to be "sniffed" at however as 68,000 turned up at Wembley to see both teams apparently not taking the fixture "too seriously"... March 22nd...end of season...etc. It proved to be a classic!! Loads of money passing through the turnstiles!!

City went ahead after 10 minutes, when Steve Kinsey had scored but Chelsea then ran riot with five unanswered goals...a hat trick for David Speedie and two for Colin Lee. Half time was 2-1 to City. At 5-1, with ten minutes left the game looked done and dusted, BUT in the final stages, City's, Mick McCarthy scored with 6 minutes left...Doug Rougvie then "scored" an own goal (under pressure, no doubt) and then Mark Lillis notched a penalty....but it wasn't quite going to have a fairy tale ending as the game ended 5-4.  Both teams played League fixtures just one day before the Final, with City having played in the Manchester Derby. 

If football is "dying", said Chelsea manager, John Hollins, "I hope its dying like that!" Chelsea's jubilant fans, caught in the moment, sang of winning the League, though their team only claimed NINE more points from the last 33!! ending the season SIXTH! 

Scorers: City Kinsey(9), Lillis(85 & 89 pen), Rougvie(88 og): Chelsea Speedie(23, 51 & 58) Lee(36 & 79). Ref: Alan Saunders.

City: Nixon, Reid, Power, Redmond, McCarthy, Phillips, Lillis, May, Kinsey, McNab, Wilson – subs Simpson(59), Baker(59). David Speedie nets his second goal on his way to the first Wembley hat-trick in 20 years.

Chelsea: Francis, Wood, Rougvie, Bumstead, McLaughlin, Pates, Nevin, Spackman, Lee, Speedie, McAllister – subs Hazard(unused), Dublin(unused) WORTH LOOKING UP THE "VIDEO" ON www.

ON THIS DAY 1988- minus one

20th March 1988!!

Liverpool finished the season as League Champions but their dream of an unbeaten season in the League ended on this day in 1988 after being unbeaten in their first 29 League matches of the season. The team that beat them, inevitably I guess....Everton!

Liverpool won the league title by nine points, and with only two defeats all season. It was the club's 17th title. Second in the league were Manchester United.

The automatically relegated sides were Watford, Oxford Utd and Portsmouth with Chelsea subsequently relegated as well, after losing to Middlesborough in the play off final.

Season	1987–88
Champions	Liverpool 17th Title
Relegated	Chelsea Portsmouth Watford Oxford United
Matches	420
Goals	1,049 (2.5 per match)
Top goalscorer	John Aldridge (26 goals)[

Matches played	420
Goals	1,049 (2.5 per match)
Top goalscorer	John Aldridge (26 goals)

Relegated	Chelsea, Portsmouth Watford, Oxford Utd

SIR STANLEY++

 On this day 19th March in 1932, Stanley Matthews made his debut for Stoke City at Bury in a 2nd Division match. 6,900 saw him play. Stoke won 1-0. He played his last League matches 33 years later, following a career at Blackpool and back at Stoke for his "swan song" and of course for England. Matthews was my hero being brought up to enjoy football in the 1950s. I had a day with him at Charterhouse when he visited with a fellow teacher, who knew his family well. We arranged a match at the school on our "historic pitch", between the school's Old Carthusians FC and an XI made up from local well know amateur footballers. Stanley managed the Invited XI.

On This Day in 1995, Notts County were in the Anglo-Italian Cup and the dream was watching them play against super clubs such as Juventus or Inter-Milan. County of course have their own history. Founded in 1862, it is the oldest professional club in the World and predates The FA itself.

The 1994–95 Anglo-Italian Cup was the seventh Anglo-Italian Cup competition. The European competition was played between eight clubs from England and eight clubs from Italy. English side Notts County lifted the trophy after beating Italian side Ascoli 2–1.

Group A

Notts County
Swindon Town
Tranmere Rovers
Wolverhampton Wanderers

Ascoli
Atalanta
Lecce
Venezia

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Ascoli	4	3	1	0	6	2	+4	10
Atalanta	4	2	2	0	6	2	+4	8
Venezia	4	2	2	0	8	6	+2	8
Notts County	4	1	3	0	6	5	+1	6
Wolverhampton Wanderers	4	1	1	2	3	4	–1	4
Lecce	4	1	0	3	4	5	–1	3
Swindon Town	4	1	0	3	4	7	–3	3
Tranmere Rovers	4	0	1	3	2	8	–6	1

Group B

Derby County
Middlesbrough
Sheffield United
Stoke City

Ancona
Cesena
Piacenza
Udinese

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Stoke City	4	3	1	0	10	2	+8	10
Ancona	4	2	2	0	9	6	+3	8
Derby County	4	2	1	1	11	5	+6	7
Sheffield United	4	1	2	1	10	8	+2	5
Udinese	4	1	1	2	4	7	–3	4
Middlesbrough	4	0	3	1	2	4	–2	3
Piacenza	4	0	3	1	3	7	–4	3
Cesena	4	0	1	3	3	13	–10	1

The reality was a tad different - the four matches they played in the two seasons they took part in the competition, were all against English sides! Notts County were a little more fortunate. They did play Italian sides on the way to reaching the final of the competition in both 1993/94 and 1994/95 although they weren't the Serie A giants - they were Serie B clubs. In 1994/95 they visited Ascoli and Atalanta and hosted Lecce and Venezia in their qualifying group with fewer than 9,000 fans in total turning up for those four matches. 

Crowds picked up for the two legs of the English semi-final against Stoke City and then it was on to a Wembley final. A year after County had been beaten 1-0 by Brescia in front of 17,185 fans at Wembley they were back at the national stadium on Sunday March 19th 1995 when 11,704 fans witnessed them play Ascoli again and record a 2-1 victory. So Notts County had tasted European glory at Wembley - and they then went on to be relegated to the third tier of the Football League at the end of the season! 

Semi-finals

English semi-final

24 January 1995

Notts County	0 – 0	Stoke City

31 January 1995

Stoke City	0 – 0 (2 – 3 pens)	Notts County

Italian semi-final

14 December 1994

Ascoli	0 – 1	Ancona

30 December 1994

Ancona	1 – 2	Ascoli

Ascoli won on away goal rule.

Final

19 March 1995

Notts County	2–1	Ascoli
Tony Agana  13' Devon White  45'	Report	Mirabella  33'

Wembley Stadium

Notts County
GK	1	Steve Cherry		74'
DF	2	Chris Short
DF	3	Michael Johnson		74'
DF	4	Phil Turner
DF	5	Shaun Murphy
MF	6	Gary Mills
MF	7	Paul Devlin
FW	8	Tony Agana		87'
MF	9	Michael Simpson
FW	10	Devon White
MF	11	Andy Legg
Substitutes:
GK	12	Paul Reece		74'
DF	13	Michael Emenalo		74'
DF	14	Tommy Gallagher		87'
Manager:
Howard Kendall NOTE!!